Paytm just announced that it would soon roll out an UPI option for Paytm Payments Bank customers. “BHIM UPI — Coming soon on @Paytm App,” the company tweeted. Incidentally, Paytm Payments Bank was supposed to go live on UPI in the month of August if prior reports are to be believed. UPI already has 57 banks using its payments architecture. But Paytm would possibly be the first payments bank to enroll the feature.

Paytm had enabled UPI on its core app at the start of the year. For Paytm Payments Bank customers, UPI integration means a quicker, more seamless method of transferring money from the bank account to the Paytm wallet. Paytm stated last month that it has recorded 10 million sign-ups for payments bank accounts within a fortnight of the beta app going live. Once UPI is enabled, Paytm Bank customers can use the same ID to make transactions at merchant locations too. 

“We will soon enable seamless creation of UPI IDs on our platform so that users can send and receive money to each other, and for merchant payments. Our significant consumer base makes us well-positioned to become a large issuer of UPI handles, driving its adoption in the country,” Paytm Payments Bank chief executive Renu Satti had said in an earlier statement. Paytm has close to 230 million wallet users at present. Most recently, the company announced an investment of $500 million to make all its customers KYC-compliant in line with new guidelines issued by RBI. 

Reports suggest that payments bank accounts are witnessing higher average deposits as compared to mobile wallets. And Paytm expects that it would go up further as more Indians warm up to the concept of payments bank accounts as a viable mode of saving. “Customers are gradually exploring the convenience and benefit of their savings account with Paytm Payments Bank and we expect deposits to increase in future,” Satti stated. At present, Paytm Payments Bank offers a four percent interest rate and cashback on deposits. Additionally, Paytm has tied up with NPCI to issue RuPay digital debit cards to all its customers.

Today HMD Global launched the most affordable device in its portfolio – the Nokia 2. Priced at 99 Euros (Rs 7,500 approximately), the device will go on sale sometime in mid-November, and India will be among the first wave of countries. Despite, its affordable price tag, the Nokia 2 comes with a bunch of premium aspects like using series 6,000 aluminum for its body, a 4,100mAh battery, and being protected by Gorilla Glass 3. However, while the Nokia 2 look impressive in itself, does it fare well against its competitors in the market? Here’s taking a look at how the new Nokia 2 competes against Xiaomi Redmi 4A, and the Moto C Plus.

Launched today, the Nokia 2’s India prices are yet to be revealed. Though, the device is expected to be priced well under Rs 10,000, it will go on sale around mid-November, and that’s when the official price of the device is likely to be revealed. In comparison, the Redmi 4A is Xiaomi’s most affordable device, which comes in two variants, a 16GB storage model, which is priced at Rs 5,999, and a 32GB model priced at Rs 6,999. On October 26 the device went on sale on Amazon India, and is open for sale every other week. Beside Amazon India, the Redmi 4A is also available on mi.com and Flipkart. The Moto C Plus, on the other hand, was launched earlier this year, priced at Rs 6,999. The smartphone is available exclusively via Flipkart.

The Nokia 2 flaunts a 5-inch LTPS HD (1280×720 pixels) display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. In comparison, the Xiaomi Redmi 4A and the Moto C Plus feature a 5-inch HD (720p) IPS display, sans Gorilla Glass. 

The new Nokia 2 is powered by the entry-level Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 Mobile Platform, which is accompanied by 1GB of RAM. There is also 8GB of internal storage that can be expanded using a microSD card. The Redmi 4A is powered by a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 quad-core processor, which is accompanied by 2GB of RAM. As mentioned, it comes in two storage variants, one with 16GB option, and the other with 32GB. The Moto C Plus is powered by a 1.35GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737 chipset. It has 2GB of RAM along with 16GB onboard storage, which can be further expanded up to 32GB via microSD Slot. 

For photography, the Nokia 2 is equipped with an 8-megapixel rear camera, as well as a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The Redmi 4A comes with a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel camera on the front. The Moto C Plus, on the other hand, sports an 8-megapixel primary camera, and a 2-megapixel front camera. 

For the Nokia 2, one of its highlights is the battery – 4,100mAh. The company says the battery is good enough to last more than two days. The Xiaomi Redmi 4A has a 3,120mAh battery, whereas the Moto C Plus is fuelled by a 4,000mAh unit.

The Nokia 2 runs on stock Android 7.1.1 Nougat out-of-the-box, and so does the Moto C Plus. However, the Redmi 4A runs on Android Marshmallow 6.0 with MIUI 8 on top. Among the three, the Nokia 2 is most likely to get the Android Oreo first. 

A possible upcoming smartphone from Xiaomi is the Redmi 5 Plus. The smartphone has been showing up on leaks now and then. A retail box of the Redmi 5 Plus was discovered last month hinting at an imminent launch. Hands on photos of the alleged Redmi 5 Plus have now been shared on Weibo. The photos show the smartphone’s front and back design, and have been shot with a Xiaomi Mi 6.

Starting with the front panel, the Redmi 5 Plus has a fairly large display with very thin bezels on all sides. The top chin bezel the speaker grille and front camera. There doesn’t seem to be the capacitive buttons, which we see on Redmi smartphones. The smartphone will probably have on screen buttons instead. The rear design is quite interesting as it shows a dual-camera setup aligned vertically. The Redmi design is apparent with the antenna lines, and circular fingerprint sensor at the center.

The Weibo post claims that these photos are of the Redmi 5 Plus, but nothing can be confirmed as of now. As far as specifications are concerned, the Redmi 5 Plus is expected to feature a 5.9-inch full HD+ display with a possible 18:9 aspect ratio. It could be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 625 SoC or Snapdragon 450 SoC. The smartphone is rumored to launch in two variants of 3GB and 4GB of RAM. The base variant will likely be the Redmi 5, while the higher variant will launch as Redmi 5 Plus. As for the dual-camera setup, the specifics could be a combination of a 12-megapixel and 5-megapixel cameras.

Along with the Redmi 5 Plus, Xiaomi is also speculated to launch the Redmi Note 5. The smartphone is rumored to come with a 5.5-inch full HD display, and a MediaTek Helio P25 SoC octa-core processor. It will possibly launch in two variants of 3GB RAM plus 32GB storage, and 4GB RAM with 64GB storage. 

The Redmi Note 5 is also expected to sport a dual-camera module, which could include 16-megapixel and 5-megapixel sensors. For selfies, it could house a 12-megapixel camera up front. Armed with a 4,000mAh battery, the Redmi Note 5 will possibly run on Android 7.1 Nougat-based MIUI 9. Xiaomi is also rumored to opt for a USB Type-C port on the Redmi Note 5.

{BGR}

Microsoft with its once pioneering video service, Skype, has introduced major changes this year. It started with the India-centric Skype Lite launched in India earlier this year. Microsoft Skype for mobile then went through a major redesign change, albeit borrowing a few features from Snapchat. Microsoft has now officially started rolling out the new Skype for desktop app.

The update will be gradually available to Mac, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Linux users. With the redesigned Skype app, Microsoft aims to give a smartphone experience on desktop as well. You can choose between different colors and themes on the new Skype app. Your chat list can be customized by organizing your contact list according to time, unread, or status, and also pin people or groups. The new Skype also allows you to change the layout from a standard view to compact view, or collapse the chat list.

Skype is now cloud-based which means that you can share up to 300MB of files, photos, and videos on the app. You can do so by dragging and dropping the items. Microsoft also says that with cloud connectivity, Skype consumes less battery on your device. Skype is also enabled with cross-device functionality letting you use the app on whichever device it is installed on. 

via GIPHY

An interesting addition to Skype is the notification panel which can be accessed by clicking the bell icon on top. Here, you can view reactions to your messages, and if you’ve been mentioned in group conversations or quoted. You can tap on the notifications to open the selected message. There’s a chat gallery as well where you can look for shared media between your contacts. Skype also has add-ins now for sending content straight from Giphy or YouTube.

Quite late in the game but Skype on desktop is now enabled with reactions. You can now reply to messages during chats or video calls with reactions. In group chats, you can also mention someone by using the @ symbol against their name. Microsoft has re-introduced status updates on Skype. Lastly, Skype on desktop gets bots like Scoop, Hipmunk, among others for small tasks like ticket pricings and flight timings.

It is that time of the year when rumors and leaks around the Samsung Galaxy S9 start emerging online. A new leak now reveals alleged concept images of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ showing its possible design, and some specifications of the smartphones.

The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are imagined with a similar design to that of the Galaxy S8 series. The front panel has slight curves on the edges with thin bezels on the sides. There is no home button up front, but the top bezel houses the front camera and speaker grille. The power button, volume rocker and Bixby button are visible on the side panels. In comparison to past leaked renders, the design language remains the same.

However, an interesting discovery in this leak is that the spec sheet mentions “no headphone jack”. If rumors are to be believed, then the Galaxy S9 series would be the first Samsung smartphones without a headphone jack. It is also written that the smartphones will feature an under-screen fingerprint sensor, and 3D sensor for facial recognition. On the contrary, a recent patent filing by Samsung hinted at a home button on the Galaxy S9. It’s a bit too early to determine which mode of biometric authentication Samsung would opt for on the Galaxy S9 series. 

The Galaxy S9 is further rumored to feature a 5.8-inch display, while the Galaxy S9+ will flaunt a 6.2-inch display. For photography, the Galaxy S9 duo is said to feature a pair of 16-megapixel rear cameras, and also dual 12-megapixel front cameras. The smartphones will come with either be IP65 or IP68 rating for water resistance. It’s only conceptualization and speculations at this point so it’s best to keep judgement for when there’s more confirmation. 

After disrupting Indian telecom, Reliance Jio might well be turning its attention towards another sector – cable television. Reports suggest that the Mukesh Ambani-owned firm is planning to roll out a high-speed fiber to the home (FTTH) broadband network early next year. Not only that, a Jio TV service would also be bundled with the FTTH network across 30 small and big cities. Jio is targeting over 100 million television households in the country, the report added.

Jio has managed to garner 128 million mobile subscribers in a little over a year, and it has laid out over 300,000 kilometers of optic fiber in the country to provide high-speed 4G data to its customers. For the upcoming broadband network, Jio has already started beta trials in select areas of Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Ahmedabad, Jamnagar, Surat and Vadodara. The JioFiber network can carry a data speed up to 1Gbps. By December, Jio is looking to connect high-population clusters on its FTTH network in as many as 100 locations in the country. 

Jio would be providing a special router that connects multiple TV devices. It would likely be available at a refundable deposit of Rs 4,500. Once its broadband service is rolled out, the firm is looking at an ARPU of Rs 1,000. That is on the higher side, given ARPUs for even DTH providers today is under Rs 300. This is also an indication that Jio could offer additional services or content bouquets on top of a conventional television package. At present, the JioFiber trials can be availed on an invite basis only. 

Now, why is Jio shifting focus to satellite television? First, the opportunity is huge. India is a predominantly TV market still. Second, the telecom honeymoon is over and the market is stabilizing as all operators, including Jio, are steadily raising tariffs. Hence, a new battleground ought to be identified, and in its July AGM, Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani had stated that Jio’s broadband would be the next monetization opportunity. “Jio remains on track to bring optic fiber connectivity to enterprises, home and public place. Most infratstructure is already in place,” he had said.

As expected, HMD Global has today launched a brand new smartphone, and it is the Nokia 2. This is a global launch, and India will be among the first countries to get this new device. The Nokia 2 is priced at 99 Euros (Rs 7,500 approximately), and it is set to go on sale sometime in mid-November. 

The Nokia 2 is the most affordable device in HMD Global’s portfolio. Despite the price tag, the smartphone is built using series 6,000 aluminum. The front part of the device is protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3, while at the back is a polycarbonate panel. Among the talking points of the Nokia 2 is the massive 4,100mAh battery underneath, which the company says is good enough to last over two days.

Much of the smartphone’s specifications and features are in line with what has leaked before. The Nokia 2 flaunts a 5-inch LTPS HD (1280×720 pixels) display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Under the hood is Qualcomm’s entry-level Snapdragon 212 Mobile Platform. There’s also 1GB of RAM, and 8GB internal storage, which can be further expanded using a microSD card.

For photography, the Nokia 2 is equipped with an 8-megapixel rear camera, as well as a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Connectivity options include dual-SIM card slots, 4G LTE support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. On the software front, the smartphone runs on stock Android 7.1.1 Nougat out-of-the-box, and also comes with Google Assistant onboard. In line with HMD Global’s promise, the OS will soon be updated to Android Oreo sooner than later.

Researchers have developed an innovative artificial intelligence (AI) system to crack CAPTCHA, the software that was created to prevent bots from accessing websites. CAPTCHA challenges people to prove that they are human by recognising combinations of letters and numbers that machines would struggle to complete correctly.

It requires users to type in text that has been distorted – a task deemed easy enough for humans, but impossible for bots. Previously, several research teams have shown that defeating CAPTCHA was possible. They used neural networks to learn what a CAPTCHA was and then to foil systems that used them. However, such methods required the system to crunch thousands or millions of examples to become reasonably proficient at cracking CAPTCHA.

Now, researchers at Vicarious - a California-based artificial intelligence firm – have come up with a modified neural network that could crack CAPTCHA after studying just a few examples. The system is called a recursive cortical network, TechXplore reported. In a traditional neural network, nodes are created to hold new information – a network is built from the nodes and it is used to judge how to deal with new data.

The team at Vicarious AI used a neural network, too, but they added something new – recursion, a software technique whereby data is used to learn something new. As that new process is learned, the results go back into the software, as well. This process is used over and over until a solution is reached, researchers said. It is a technique that has long been used to solve mazes. By applying recursion to a neural network, the researchers found they were able to reduce the learning curve of their software dramatically.

The system needed just five training steps, for example, to crack Google’s reCAPTCHA 67 percent of the time, they said.

India will undertake another lunar expedition in early 2018 by sending a lander and a rover to explore the Moon to unravel its origin and present conditions, a top space official said. The second Moon mission — Chandrayaan-2 — comes nearly a decade after India’s maiden lunar odessey in November 8, 2008, through a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket, which was launched on October 22 that year.

For launching Chandrayaan-1, the ISRO used PSLV rocket as the spacecraft carried only an impact probe vehicle to crash land on the Moon surface from its orbit.

“We are working towards putting an orbiter, lander, and the whole system in the lunar orbit in the first quarter of 2018,” state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar told reporters. “The orbiter is getting ready and integrated,” he said. “The lander and rover are undergoing tests. Some more tests are planned for December,” the ISRO chief said.

The lunar spacecraft will be launched onboard the space agency’s heavy rocket — Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark II — from the second launch pad of the space port, located at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. As part of integration, the lander and rover would be configured for soft landing at a designated spot on the Moon and to conduct scientific experiments.

The rover will emerge from the lander to observe the lunar terrain and relay the data along with images through radio links.

India would launch its latest remote sensing satellite in Cartosat-2 series along with 28 foreign satellites riding piggy-back in December, a top space official said.

“In the next launch, we have a Cartosat along with 28 international commercial satellites, which we will launch in the second half of December,” said S. Rakesh, the Chairman and Managing Director of Antrix Corporation Ltd, the commercial arm of state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

There will be 25 nanosatellites and three microsatellites from the US and other countries as co-passengers along the space firm’s own satellite of the Cartosat-2 series, he said. The satellites will be launched into the orbit onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), Rakesh added.

The next launch will be keenly watched as it comes after ISRO’s PSLV rocket failed to deploy a spare navigation satellite on August 31. The rocket’s heat shield had failed to separate leaving the satellite inside the shield. The Cartosat-2 is an earth observation satellite that is capable of providing high-quality images.

Imageries from Cartosat-2 series are used for cartographic, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation, utility management like road network monitoring, water distribution, creation of land use maps, change detection to bring out geographical and man-made features and other Land Information System (LIS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) applications.

The previous satellite (Cartosat-2E) in the series was launched on February 15 this year from the spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 90km northeast of Chennai.

The Department of Telecom has allocated ’1076′ as the number for UP Chief Minister’s helpline to which the public can call and register complaints once it is operational. “The undersigned is directed to convey the approval for shortcode ’1076′ to the government of Uttar Pradesh for its chief minister helpline…” a DoT order said.

The helpline number will reportedly be operated by UP Chief Minister Office with help of call centre with manpower of 500 people. As per a report, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered to set up CM Helpline on which people can register their grievances.

The staff will note down the complaint and forward it to the department concerned for appropriate action. The progress on complaints will be monitored by CM office, as per the proposal. The number is reportedly expected to be operational by the end of this year.

HMD Global is hosting an event in India on October 31, where it is widely expected to introduce the Nokia 7. The smartphone was launched in the international market earlier this month.

HMD Global will be live broadcasting the launch event, which will kick starts at 12:00PM. You can log in to Facebook and follow this link to catch the live unveiling. HMD Global sent out the invitations, revealing nothing except the date to ‘unveil the next milestone for Nokia phones’. However, as it precedes the Nokia 7 global launch, it is most likely to be about the same product.

Nokia 7 is said to be the company’s first smartphone to boast a glass body design. It also carry forwards the ‘Bothie’ feature from Nokia 8, which allows you to capture images and record videos from both the rear and front cameras simultaneously. 

In terms of specifications, the Nokia 7 packs a 5.2-inch full HD IPS display with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3 protection on top. It is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 SoC, and paired with 4GB/6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.

For optics, there’s a 16-megapixel rear camera with f/1.8 aperture, and a dual-tone LED flash. Up front, there is a 5-megapixel camera with f/2.0 aperture with 84-degree field-of-view for selfies and video calling. 

Nokia 7 is fueled by a 3,000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, USB Type-C port, and NFC. HMD Global promised at the global launch that the Nokia 7 will be upgradable to the Android 8.0 Oreo. It is expected to run on Android 7.1.1 Nougat out-of-the-box when it launches in India tomorrow.

Internationally, the Nokia 7 is priced at RMB 2,499 (approximately Rs 24,600) for the base variant, and RMB 2,699 (approximately Rs 26,500) for the higher variant. At the given pricing, Nokia 7 could compete against Honor 8 Pro, Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017), and the Moto Z2 Play in the sub-Rs 30,000 segment.

Have you ever added one, two and three using a calculator? Clearly, that makes you poor at math by the snooty standards, but you can feel at home here. I too have once (or more) probably. Now, the question is if you have ever done that “major calculation” on an iOS 11 calculator. If you have, then I would seriously suggest you to go back to that math problem, because your results were quite likely wrong. But don’t be hard on yourself, blame it on iOS 11.

Turns out, the calculator app on the new iPhone OS is a wee bit flawed. A Reddituser has recently pointed out that, when you quickly type 1+2+3 on the iOS 11 calculator app, you most likely wouldn’t get six as the answer. You might get 23, or 24, or 16, or 32, or something else, depending on what buttons you tap and in what order, and, obviously, none of which is the right answer.

via GIPHY

Basically what happens here, is that when you type these numbers too fast, the app hangs a little, so instead of 1+2+3, you actually end up typing 1+23 or 12+3. Basically, you just get some or the other wrong answer. And it works similarly for other numbers too, so it is not like just the 1,2 and 3 are flawed. I tried adding 7+8+9 and got 89.

The Reddit user found that this issue was because of the new animation in the calculator app, where a button briefly fades to white when you press it. The result is that if you press an operator button (i.e., the plus sign) before the short animation finishes, the app ignores it. 

But you should know that this flaw occurs, only if you type really fast. If you type at a nice leisure pace, you are likely to get the correct results. Now, it doesn’t seem to be a deliberately done design that slows down the speed of the calculator, but you can never tell with Apple, and its “it is meant to work that way” justifications.

{BGR}

Cambridge University researchers have pinpointed the date of what could be the oldest solar eclipse yet recorded. The event, which occurred on October 30, 1207 BC, is mentioned in the Bible, and could help historians to date Egyptian pharaohs. “Solar eclipses are often used as a fixed point to date events in the ancient world,” said Professor Colin Humphreys from University of Cambridge’s Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy.

Using a combination of the biblical text and an ancient Egyptian text, the researchers were able to refine the dates of the Egyptian pharaohs, in particular, the dates of the reign of Ramesses the Great, according to the study published in the journal Astronomy & Geophysics. The biblical text in question comes from the Old Testament book of Joshua and has puzzled biblical scholars for centuries. It records that after Joshua led the people of Israel into Canaan, a region of the ancient Near East that covered modern-day Israel and Palestine – he prayed: “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon. And the Sun stood still, and the Moon stopped until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.”

“If these words are describing a real observation, then a major astronomical event was taking place – the question for us to figure out is what the text actually means,” Humphreys said. “Modern English translations, which follow the King James translation of 1611, usually interpret this text to mean that the Sun and Moon stopped moving,” Humphreys said. “But going back to the original Hebrew text, we determined that an alternative meaning could be that the Sun and Moon just stopped doing what they normally do: they stopped shining. In this context, the Hebrew words could be referring to a solar eclipse, when the Moon passes between the earth and the Sun, and the Sun appears to stop shining,” Humphreys said.

This interpretation is supported by the fact that the Hebrew word translated ‘stand still’ has the same root as a Babylonian word used in ancient astronomical texts to describe eclipses, he added. Independent evidence that the Israelites were in Canaan between 1500 and 1050 BC can be found in the Merneptah Stele, an Egyptian text dating from the reign of the Pharaoh Merneptah, son of the well-known Ramesses the Great, the study said. The large granite block, held in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, says that it was carved in the fifth year of Merneptah’s reign and mentions a campaign in Canaan in which he defeated the people of Israel.

Earlier historians had used these two texts to try to date the possible eclipse, but were not successful as they were only looking at total eclipses, in which the disc of the Sun appears to be completely covered by the moon as the moon passes directly between the earth and the sun. What the earlier historians failed to consider was that it was instead an annular eclipse, in which the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun, but is too far away to cover the disc completely, the researchers said.

In the ancient world the same word was used for both total and annular eclipses. The researchers developed a new eclipse code, which takes into account variations in the Earth’s rotation over time. From their calculations, they determined that the only annular eclipse visible from Canaan between 1500 and 1050 BC was on 30 October 1207 BC, in the afternoon. If their arguments are accepted, it would not only be the oldest solar eclipse yet recorded, it would also enable researchers to date the reigns of Ramesses the Great and his son Merneptah to within a year. Using these new calculations, the reseachers determined that Ramesses the Great reigned from 1276-1210 BC, with a precision of plus or minus one year.

Reliance JioPhone might be the ultimate challenger in the hybrid 4G VoLTE feature phone segment, but it appears founder Mukesh Ambani is gradually inclining towards the larger demand of consumers – Android phones.

The ‘effectively priced Rs 0′ JioPhone has taken the market by storm, and the company is having a difficult time keeping up with the pre-orders. So much that the pre-orders had to be stalled for a while. While some reports suggested the JioPhone pre-orders will resume post-Diwali, we are yet to see that officially being announced. Now, latest reports indicate there might be a change in company’s plans afterall.

FactorDaily says Reliance Jio has stopped production of JioPhone as it is in talks to introduce an Android-based phone. The publication cites a company insider as saying, “There are not enough apps compatible with KaiOS but people are working on developing special versions for the JioPhone.” Reliance Jio is reportedly also said to be working with Facebook and Google to build compatible versions of their most widely used apps in the country. 

The company has reportedly asked Google to bring down the royalty for Android. The JioPhone currently runs KaiOS, and which there is a niche market for the OS (an estimated 100 million customers), the share of Android is much higher in the market. What also makes it a wiser decision to switch to Android is because of the sheer penetration, and larger compatibility of apps it brings to the table.

At the moment, Jio is offering its suite of apps including JioTV, JioMusic, and JioChat, among others. However, there’s no real compatibility with other platform or network subscribers. Jio services are already seen as a threat by incumbent operators, leading to cross-platform support issues. One of the sources is quoted as saying that JioPhone’s bundled apps “is not enough for its success”.

When the company introduced the JioPhone, it claimed to make five million JioPhone available every week. “It’s not that the target is changing… but a walled garden approach doesn’t work in mobile phones, it hasn’t worked in the past and it will not work in the future,” a source is quoted as saying. 

It is unclear if the company now intends to bring an Android-based JioPhone feature phone or a smartphone. Recently, Airtel joined hands with Karbonn to introduce an ‘effectively priced Rs 1,399‘ Android smartphone. On the other hand, Vodafone is also likely to bring out a new low-cost 4G phone soon.

Meanwhile, Reliance Jio is reportedly looking at delivering the JioPhone to smaller towns and villages first. While it is not clear if the company will abruptly discontinue the KaiOS-based JioPhone, but as the sources claim, the company’s plan is to manufacture at least a total of 10 million units. The company received pre-orders for six million units in the first round. 

{BGR}

The man left the world six years ago, but his impression on it has only gotten deeper. Apparently, a Bayemway Steve Jobs once owned is being put up for auction next month on Sotheby’s, and the estimated winning bid on it is stunning, it is estimated to reach between $300,000 and $400,000. Originally, the BMW Z8 cost $128,000 when its production stopped in 2003. The auction is scheduled to begin on December 6 at Sotheby’s “Icons” event, featuring supercars from Lamborghini, Ferrari, Jaguar, and other marques.

According to the listing, Jobs’ ownership of this car is documented through several service invoices accompanying the car, as well as a copy of a California registration or so-called “pink slip” in his name and at his personal residence, a MacRumor report states. “According to legend, Jobs was convinced to buy the Z8 by Larry Ellison the iconoclastic CEO of Oracle, who enthused to Jobs that the car was a paragon of modern automotive engineering and ergonomics,” the listing says.

The BMW Z8 has a production date of April 1, 2000, and it was delivered to him in October of that year, according to Sotheby’s. Jobs reportedly sold the car in 2003 to its current owner in Los Angeles. Reportedly, since it was originally purchased by Jobs, the car has till now been driven just 15,200 miles, averaging less than 1,000 miles a year, the listing states. It is said to remain in “exemplary condition.” 

The silver-over-black car is equipped with several accessories, including its original BMW-branded Motorola flip phone that Jobs supposedly hated. The JOBS Z8 license plate was registered by the current owner. 

Recently, a Newsweek magazine from 1988 signed by Steve Jobs was sold for $50,587, as reported by CNet. Quite against the traditional signatures, Jobs signed the magazine writing, “I love manufacturing”, with love underlined for stress. This was the issue covering rhe unveiling of Jobs’ NeXT computer. 

Qualcomm is reportedly working on its next-gen flagship mobile chipset, the Snapdragon 845. Successor to the existing Snapdragon 835 SoC, the new chipset is expected to be announced by the end of this year. The new chipset is expected to bring performance improvements along with battery life efficiency.

According to a leaked invite spotted on Weibo (via mysmartprice), the Snapdragon 845 SoC will be announced at the Snapdragon Technology Summit in Maui, Hawaii. The event is set to take place between December 4-8, and it is likely that the chipset will be announced on the very first day, the report states. 

The Snapdragon 835 SoC was unveiled at CES 2017 in January, whereas its successor is expected to be announced a month earlier. Rumors also claim that Samsung will be manufacturing the chipsets, and it already has dibs on the first production batch for the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones. 

Even as earlier rumors hinted that the new chipset will be made on 7nm process, the next-gen chipset is expected to be manufactured on the same 10nm FinFET process as the Snapdragon 835 SoC. However, instead of custom Kryo cores, the next-gen chipset is expected to see a shift to four ARM Cortex A75 cores, along with four Cortex A53 cores. In terms of graphics, the Snapdragon 845 SoC could be paired with Adreno 630 GPU. 

On the connectivity front, the Snapdragon 845 SoC is rumored to ship with X20 modem with support for download speeds up to 1.2Gbps. Qualcomm has also been focusing on its Spectra ISP for improved low-light photography, and camera with zero shutter lag. With competitors such as Huawei adding Artificial Intelligence in its Kirin chipsets, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Qualcomm also does the same with the new Snapdragon 845 SoC. Rest of the details are scarce at the moment, but we are not likely to see devices running on the Snapdragon 845 SoC until first half of 2018. 

It’s no secret that HTC is gearing up to launch a new smartphone later this week on November 2. Until now, rumors have hinted towards the launch of the U11 Plus and the U11 Life. Now, adding fuel to the already raging fire is a tweet by HTC.

You’ll believe it all on 11.02.2017 pic.twitter.com/9NRTWeWM9u

— HTC (@htc) October 27, 2017

The tweet by HTC is a teaser for the November 2 event with a small glimpse at the smartphone that is expected to launch. Looking closely at the teaser, one does notice a smartphone with ultra-thin bezels around the screen. There also doesn’t seem to be any physical buttons up front, which means that the fingerprint sensor is being moved to the back.

While it is in line with the current trend of bezel-less smartphones, the teaser still doesn’t answer one question – Is HTC launching the U11 Plus, U11 Life or both? While recent reports have hinted at the launch of the U11 Plus, reliable leakster Evan Blass thinks it will be a mid-ranger called U11 Life.

Based on what we have come across so far, the HTC U11 Plus is expected to come with a 6-inch QHD+ resolution display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB internal storage. The rest of the rumored features include a 12-megapixel rear camera, and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. On the software front, it is expected to run on Android Oreo wrapped under SenseUI. The smartphone is expected to be available in two color options of Brilliant Black and Amazing Silver. 

The HTC U11 Life, on the other hand, is expected to come with mid-range level specifications and features. More importantly though, this smartphone is expected to be a part of Google’s Android One program. In other words, it will run on stock Android Oreo out-of-the-box.

As for leaked specifications, the U11 Life could come with a 5.2-inch full HD (1080p) display, Snapdragon 660 SoC, 16-megapixel rear and front cameras, as well as a 2,600mAh battery. HTC is expected to launch two variants – one with 32GB storage and 3GB RAM, and the other with 64GB storage and 4GB of RAM. 

In a burger, should the cheese slice be on top of the patty, or at the bottom? It is a million-dollar-question that is boggling the internet, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai. So Pichai, 44, now wants to “drop everything else” and address the burger issue first.

The debate started when Thomas Baekdal, the founder of Baekdal Media, sought a Twitter discussion on how the placement of cheese in the “burger emoji” differed on Google and Apple.

“We need to have a discussion about how Google’s burger emoji is placing the cheese underneath the burger, while Apple puts it on top,” Baekdal tweeted along with the pictures of the different emojis.

While several Twitter users engaged in the discussion to sort out the issue, the Indian-born Google CEO, too, chipped in albeit with a humorous take on the matter. 

“Will drop everything else we are doing and address on Monday:) if folks can agree on the correct way to do this!,” a jocular Pichai said in a tweet, which was retweeted by over 10,000 users. The market cap of Google is more than $800 billion, while that of Apple Inc is close to $850 billion.

WhatsApp has finally rolled out its most anticipated feature ‘Delete for Everyone’ that allows its over one billion users revoke their messages in case they sent those to a wrong person or a group. You can only delete messages for everyone for up to seven minutes after sending.

“Once seven minutes have passed, there is no way to delete messages for everyone,” Facebook-owned WhatsApp said in its updated FAQ. “In order for messages to be successfully deleted for everyone, both you and your recipient must be using the latest version of WhatsApp for Android, iPhone or Windows Phone,” the micro-blogging platform said.

WhatsApp was working on this feature for almost a year. You can now delete messages for everyone or just for yourself. “Deleting messages for everyone allows you to delete specific messages you have sent to either a group or an individual chat. This is particularly useful if you sent a message to the wrong chat or if the message you sent contains a mistake,” WhatsApp noted.

Messages you successfully delete for everyone will be replaced with “This message was deleted” in your recipients’ chats. Similarly, if you see “This message was deleted” in a chat, it means that the sender deleted their message for everyone. 

This is how it works: Open WhatsApp and go to the chat containing the message you wish to delete. Tap and hold the message and choose Delete from the menu. Optionally, select more messages to delete multiple messages at once. Then tap “Delete for Everyone”.

“If you or your recipient are not using the latest version of WhatsApp for Android, iPhone or Windows Phone, this feature will not be supported,” WhatsApp said.

Recipients may see your message before it’s deleted or if deletion was not successful. According to WABetaInfo, a fan website that tracks WhatsApp, this feature works for messages in text, videos, GIFs, pictures, voice messages, quoted messages and status replies.

The second part is to delete messages only for yourself. Deleting messages for yourself allows you to delete your copy of messages you’ve sent or received from your phone.

“This has no effect on your recipients’ chats. Your recipients will still see the messages in their chat screen,” WhatsApp said. For this, open WhatsApp and go to the chat containing the message you wish to delete. 

Tap and hold the message and choose Delete from the menu. Optionally, select more messages to delete multiple messages at once. Then tap “Delete for Me”.

“The feature is being slowly rolled out and users can reinstall WhatsApp in order to download from the server the latest configuration,” WABetaInfo said.